When the Wheels Fall Off the Trolley

Yes, this is a blog about the Natural World in which we all live. Unfortunately, some are less than responsible citizens, who refuse to live in harmony with Nature.

It’s only been a month since the Orange Oval One was sworn into office. For those of us who care about preserving and defending the Natural World, this has been a time of gobsmacking alarm, fear and disbelief. The current intruders into the halls of government are set, yes, dead set, on destroying everything we have worked for over the past fifty years, or more. They are attempting to destroy the very basis of civil society and environmental responsibility, all for the private gain of elite billionaires and their minions.

The economic tsunami looming on the horizon will change all our lives in the Santa Cruz Bioregion. It will take local political organization and support, mutual aid and cooperation before this inundation can be stopped and reversed. We are all in this together, humans, animals, plants and the living soil, interdependent and mutually responsible for the well being of all.

The next four years, at least, will be a time of retrenchment, consolidation and a change in focus from the national and international to the very local. If the Trump/Republican regime succeeds in implementing all its proposed plans, eliminates or drastically reduces government agencies and programs, we will experience reduced federal funding for social programs at the local level.

This means we would have reduced local government budgets for social and other programs dependent on federal grants and loans.

This means we would have to revive traditional social support systems that have sloughed away as the federal checks rolled in.

This means we would all have to relearn to be more self-reliant and self-sufficient, support more locally organized and funded social programs and become more involved in local county and municipal governments.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not support the Trump/Musk Siamese twins in any way. They’re the fascist ghost lurking in the wings for the past century or so, now jumping out from the shadows and yelling “BOO!!” at the top of the their lungs.

I’ve long held that the best way to deal with authoritarian central government is to ignore it to death. While we may be forced to pay attention to the Oval One and his puppetmaster, we must not give in to their demands to turn over our lives and the lives of all living beings in our bioregion to the less than gentle ministrations of this fascist cabal.

Here in the Santa Cruz Bioregion, and in the greater California political/economic structure, we have the means and capabilities to close in and provide for ourselves, if not in political secession, but in a return to cultural and economic focus on the local and bioregional, right here where we live and where we can meaningfully participate in the conduct and progression of government, economy and culture.

We can manage our population to not exceed local resources, particularly clean, potable water. We can encourage and support local agriculture in producing healthy, organic food for local consumption, not export. We can protect and restore local ecosystems to enhance biodiversity on which all life in our bioregion depends. We can organize housing to reduce the need for commuting long distances, and encourage affordable housing for all who live and work here full time.

Let’s put the wheels back on the trolly and roll toward a future that supports and encourages health and well being among all life in our bioregion.

Un-Natural Acts in the Natural World

We Live in the Natural World – yes, we do. All of us. All life. All the time.

However, the majority of humans on this benighted and much abused planet have yet to get the memo, and they haven’t figured it out on their own, either.

There are many things that humans do, or attempt to do, that are decidedly un-Natural, for example:

Continuous population and economic growth, coupled with an economic system based on increasing consumption of finite resources, governed by a hierarchical, authoritarian political systems based on inequality and economic disparity.

To make matters worse, if that’s at all possible, Current Resident Trump and his Puppeteer Musk are doubling down on political, cultural and economic totalitarianism, discarding “into the dustbin of history” (Leon Trotsky, 1917) any semblance of what little remains of democratic governance and protection for the natural world.

Since the United States and most of the rest of the world are completely in thrall to transnational corporate capitalism, the most extreme expression of un-Natural governance, economy and culture …

… the populace is left with deer in the headlights stares into the onrushing, out of control bus heading toward the derelict bridge lying in ruins at the bottom of the yawning abyss of Western civilization.

The oddest thing about all this is that it comes to anyone as a surprise! The Orange One was POTUS once before, promising everything that the Republican Party and its minions are carrying out today. The Project 2025 text was readily available before the heavily gerrymandered 2024 election. There should be no surprise to anyone that this runaway bus was headed our way, pedal to the metal!

You may have noticed that the Natural World doesn’t work this way. No rulers, no “money” (whatever that is), no central authority, no hierarchy, no continuous growth and expanding resource consumption. Mother Nature has strict rules about these things. Any species that continually violates the rules is summarily kicked out of the gene pool for bad behavior.

It’s inevitable that any society that combines a corporate capitalist economy with a centralized, authoritarian government will descend into fascism and totalitarianism. It’s also inevitable that totalitarian governments will inevitably be overthrown by the disenfranchised public seeking freedom and control of their own lives.

So, why don’t we just skip all the ugly and destructive fascist dictatorship bit and go right to bioregionalism and mutual aid, egalitarian, cooperative, democratic government and a steady state economy, while we get on with the business of saving what’s left of the Natural World and restoring and protecting the rest?

Act now and avoid the rush! Be the first in your bioregion to turn your back on this corrupt and oppressive corporate oligarchy and demand local governance based on the principles of bioregionalism, ecology and democracy!

What is there to lose? Nothing could be worse than the Current Occupant and his fawning followers.

“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Simplicity

My mind is always wandering, sometimes here, sometimes there, sometimes beyond all reckoning. I’m thinking about writing about simplicity, but in trying to write about it, it becomes complicated.

The myriad changes the Trump/Musk regime is pushing forward these days make business as usual more complicated for business and government bureaucracies, and the general public as well. Since a major portion of local government spending comes from national government coffers, local citizens have gotten used to government handouts for everything from social support programs to street and highway building and maintenance, to state mandated public schools. The Current Resident and his puppet master are working to reduce or eliminate this government funding status quo.

Gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair ensue …

The very basis of public life and government in this country, and most of the rest of what we optimistically think of as Western Civilization, is under attack by Trump and Company. They’re fans of authoritarianism and fascism, or, as Trump would prefer, monarchy. They strive toward a world dominated by Artificial Intelligence (AI), under which all “citizens,” aka peasants, are welded to their electronic devices, pushed and pulled to and fro by propaganda, disinformation and outright lies, to the extent that reality as an approach to understanding the Universe and all that within it lies is subject to centralized control.

Ah, for the days of our youth, when life was simple and free, politicians were honest and respected, wildlife and natural areas were abundant and healthy. It’s hard to remember, even for those of us who were born before 1960, and to realize how much has been lost.

What to do, what to do … ?

What we do is to live as simply as possible, with minimal consumption and carbon footprint (if that’s important), and minimum involvement in the unNatural, digital world.

  • We walk, hand in hand, or bicycle everywhere for groceries, banking, bill paying, ocean appreciation and neighboring. We have one car, a 1972 VW Bug, purchased in early 1973, driven less than 200 miles per year. We take the Metro bus, and /or Amtrak, or a rental car for those one or two times a year that we travel outside the county.
  • We have never had cell phones, and never will. Not needed, not wanted. We each have a desk top computer, on our desktop, safely plugged into the wall, as is our only land-line telephone.
  • We never buy anything online, ever, nor engage in any financial transaction online.
  • We frequent Little Libraries and Little Pantries, contributing regularly to their collections.
  • We help distribute weekly Grey Bears food bags to our neighbors and ourselves.
  • We frequent the Free Table in our mobilehome park laundry room, where we find most of our clothes, excess Grey Bears food items, and drop off items we no longer need.
  • We heat our 800 square foot home with passive solar, mainly, supplemented with a small, efficient wood stove, fueled with branches gathered on our daily walks.
  • We participate in local government daily.
  • We are vegetarian and vegan, enjoying fresh produce in season from Grey Bears and from the gardens around our home.

Living simply, enjoying life in our local bioregion, we minimize the urgent distractions of the digital world, and maximize the rewards of a simple, sufficient and satisfying Life.

The Government War on Trees

The vision of an Ecotopian society is illustrated in this R. Crumb image of modest, low tech human habitations scattered aesthetically among the trees. Santa Cruz used to be a center of advocacy and practice of this vision:

This is today’s Santa Cruz Reality:

For many years, Santa Cruz county and city governments have been waging a war on local trees, the so-called “urban forest.” Despite city Heritage and county Significant tree ordinances, allegedly protecting urban trees, nearly every construction project includes a permit to cut down and remove them. The ordinances direct developers to plan their projects to avoid the removal of heritage and significant trees. As you can see in the pictures above, project plans frequently rely on the removal of existing trees in the project areas.

Significant/Heritage Tree Ordinances

Current Construction Projects

  • The SC City Zoning Administrator
    • 110 Hiawatha Avenue – Coastal Permit to Recognize the Emergency Permit Issued to Remove One Black Acacia Heritage-Sized Tree with a Co-Dominant Trunk
    • 210 and 212 Brooke Avenue – Coastal Permit to Prune More Than 25% of a Heritage Tree’s Canopy Which Extends into the Public Right-of-Way
    • 412 Logan Street – Coastal Permit for Removal of Two Trees, Including One Heritage Tree and One Non-Heritage Tree
  • The SC City Planning Commission
    • 902, 908, 908A, 908B, 920, 928, 1004, 1008, 1010, 1014 Ocean Street, 417, 419, 421, 423, 429, 431, 433, 435, 449, 454, 457, May Avenue, 126, 130 Hubbard Street – Residential and Non-Residential Demolition Authorization Permits, Heritage Tree Removal Permit – Remove 16 Heritage Trees
    • 313 Swift Street – Planned Development Permit, Coastal Permit, Design Permit, and Heritage Tree Removal Permit, including the removal of six(6) Heritage trees
  • The SC City Parks & Recreation Commission
    • Heritage Tree Mitigation/Replanting In Lieu Fee and Tree Bond
  • The County Regional Transportation Commission
    • Santa Cruz County Coastal Rail Trail – a 32 mile rail and trail project that will result in the destruction of thousands of trees along the rail trail corridor. Significant and heritage tree removal will be conducted by county and municipal permits.

In today’s reality, the significant and heritage tree ordinances do not prevent the destruction of urban trees, they only regulate their removal.

Urban trees provide beauty and inspiration for human residences, habitat for urban wildlife, including humans, provide cooling shade, absorb atmospheric CO2 and emit atmospheric oxygen that all life depends on. The replacement of urban trees with more asphalt, cement, metal and glass significantly adds to the urban heat island effect that increases the perception of rapidly increasing global warming.

Urban trees are more than architectural details on glitzy development drawings, they are active parts of the interdependent natural world in which we all live.

Environmental Meetings

The County Zoning Administrator will meet Friday, February 21 at 9:00 am in a hybrid meeting at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, Room 525, County Government Center 701 Ocean Street Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • 275 Lee Road, Watsonville – Proposal to establish a community harvest program at the Watsonville Slough Farm, including parking area, restrooms, farmworker housing (4 RV pads), trails and boardwalks. Requires a Coastal Development Permit, Conditional Use Permit, Conditional Site Development Permit, and Riparian Exception and consider adoption of a mitigated negative declaration pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The SC City Zoning Administrator will meet Wednesday, February 19 at 10:00 am at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

  • 110 Hiawatha Avenue – Coastal Permit to Recognize the Emergency Permit Issued to Remove One Black Acacia Heritage-Sized Tree with a Co-Dominant Trunk (1-24 Inch and 1-26 Inch Diameter Trunk) Within the R-L/CZ-O/SP-O (Multiple Residence – Low-Density/Coastal Zone Overlay/Shoreline Protection Overlay) Zone District. Environmental Review: Categorical Exemption.
  • 210 and 212 Brooke Avenue – Coastal Permit to Prune More Than 25% of a Heritage Tree’s Canopy Which Extends into the Public Right-of-Way from an Adjacent Property Zoned R-1-5/CZ-O/SP-O (Single-Family Residential/Coastal Zone Overlay/Shoreline Protection Overlay) and Within the Seabright Area Plan. Environmental Determination: Categorical Exemption.
  • 412 Logan Street – Coastal Permit for Removal of Two Trees, Including One Heritage Tree and One Non-Heritage Tree, on a Lot of Approximately 5,750 Square Feet in Size Located in the R-L/CZ-O (Multiple Residence – Low-Density/Coastal Zone Overlay) Zone District. Environmental Determination: Categorical Exemption.
  • 914/916 Seabright Avenue – Minor Land Division to Subdivide an Approximately 21,562 Square-Foot Property into 2 Lots on Land Located in the R-L/CZ-O (Multiple Residence – Low-Density/Coastal Zone Overlay) Zone District. Environmental Review: Categorical Exemption.

The SC City Planning Commission will meet Thursday, February 20 at 7:00 pm at City Hall, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

  • 902, 908, 908A, 908B, 920, 928, 1004, 1008, 1010, 1014 Ocean Street, 417, 419, 421, 423, 429, 431, 433, 435, 449, 454, 457, May Avenue, 126, 130 Hubbard Street – Residential and Non-Residential Demolition Authorization Permits, Heritage Tree Removal Permit, Minor Land Division, Design Permit, Special Use Permit, and Density Bonus Request to Demolish Four Commercial Buildings and 12 Residential Units on 21 Lots, Remove 16 Heritage Trees

The Santa Cruz Sierra Club Executive Committee will meet Wednesday, February 19 at 6:30 pm by remote teleconference. Click HERE for information and instructions for public participation.

Environmental News and Articles

Public Participation Primer

What to do, what to do?

Over the past thirty years or so, I’ve promoted bioregional organization as an approach to reforming or replacing the current centralized authoritarian political/economic system that is destroying the Natural World. You may have read my earlier posts on Bioregionalism, HERE, HERE and HERE, and others.

OK, sounds good. Now what do we do?

Good question!

“Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” ― George Orwell, 1984

Since the current governmental, economic and cultural systems are what there is, like it or not, this is where we can apply our energies for best effect. Rebellion and revolution start between the ears and spread to individual and collective action, dissent and outright rebellion.

I’ve chosen promotion of public participation in local government as my lever to move local governance to a sane and environmentally responsive direction. I publish a weekly newsletter, Santa Cruz Online, a compendium of local government and other organization meetings for the coming week.

Here on We Live in the Natural World, up in the left hand corner under the picture of Yours Truly, I’ve included links to pages with links to local county and government decision-making bodies, environmental organizations, an environmental bibliography, and a lengthy explanation of Bioregionalism. These are your tools. Study them. Use them as your entryway to active participation in local governance.

A properly functioning democracy depends on an informed electorate. – Thomas Jefferson

Let’s get to work!

No AI was used in researching or writing this article.

Local Environmental Meetings

The County Parks and Recreation Commission will meet Monday, February 10 at 5:00 pm at the Simpkins Family Swim Center Community Rooms, 979 17th Avenue in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

  • VII. Regular Agenda/ Information Items
    • VIII.A. Safe Drinking Water, Clean Beaches, Wildfire Risk Reduction, and Wildlife Protection Initiative (Measure Q) Presentation

The County Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday, February 11 at 9:00 am in a hybrid meeting at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, Room 525, County Governmental Center, 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

Consent Agenda

  • 25. Approve grant allocations in the total amount of $18,500 from the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Fish and Game Propagation Fund for four local community projects to enhance fish and wildlife, and take related actions
  • 36. Accept and file the Santa Cruz County Water Resources Management Status Report for 2024

The SC City Parks & Recreation Commission will meet Monday, February 10 at 4:00 pm at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

The SC City Council will meet Tuesday, February 10 at 12:00 pm in a hybrid meeting at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • Comprehensive Wildfire Preparedness and Safety Program
    • 1) Direct staff to initiate a Comprehensive Wildfire Preparedness and Safety Program; and
    • 2) Form a City Council Ad Hoc Committee to work with City staff and community stakeholders to develop the Program and support community engagement and education efforts.

The Capitola City Council will meet Thursday, February 13 at 5:00 pm in a hybrid meeting at City Council Chambers 420 Capitola Avenue in Capitola. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • Park Avenue Traffic Calming Improvements with Coastal Rail Trail Options – Review options for Coastal Rail Trail improvements in the Park Avenue right-of-way and identify Option A (as described in the staff report) as the preferred alternative for further analysis.

The Watsonville City Council Joint Council, Successor Housing Agency, & Successor Agency will meet Tuesday, February 11 at 4:30 pm at City Council Chambers, 275 Main Street, Top Floor in Watsonville. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

  • Coastal Rail Trail Segment 18 project update by Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission Senior Transportation Planner Grace Blakeslee
  • Citywide Energy and Infrastructure Modernization Program presentation by Climatec
  • Receive presentation on the Santa Cruz County Regional Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Mitigation Program, provide input, accept report & direct staff to participate in developing implementation of a Multi-Jurisdictional Regional VMT Mitigation Program.

The County RTC Bicycle Advisory Committee will meet Monday, February 10 at 5:30 pm in a hybrid meeting at the RTC Office, Suite 250A, 1101 Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

  • 11. Review and provide input on Coastal Rail Trail Segment 10 Park Avenue Alignment
  • 14. Updates related to committee functions – ZEPRT alignments subcommittee letter re. ZEPRT Milestone 3

The Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County Board of Directors will meet Wednesday, February 12 at 6:30 pm in a hybrid meeting at the City of Capitola Community Room, 420 Captiola Avenue in Capitola. Click HERE for the agenda.

Environmental News Hereabouts

A Battery Fire Deposits Heavy Metals into Elkhorn Slough

Lithium-ion battery components—nickel, manganese, and cobalt—were found at concentrations thousands of times greater after the fire. The implications for wildlife hang in the balance.

Did Southern California Once Have Summer Rains? Ask the Tongva

As in the Mediterranean, prior to colonization it was a lusher and much wetter place. A number of tribes lived in coastal southern California, including the Chumash, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh and the Tongva, with the Tongva, or “People of the Earth,” being the main inhabitants of the LA basin. The Tongva are believed to have arrived overland around three thousand years ago, whence they settled and flourished.

“Just Bring It” campaign starts in Santa Cruz county. 

Waste Free Santa Cruz is partnering with the largest coalition of local coffee shops to promote reuse and reduce single-use plastic waste in our community. 

Putting Nature at the Center

in a matter of mere centuries, we humans are unraveling the web of life and triggering a mass extinction event that is likely to impact virtually all species on the Earth, and to destabilize the fundamental planetary systems upon which we too depend.

Why California keeps building homes where wildfires burn

The impulse to restore all that the fires have stripped away may be a basic human one and for Newsom, it’s certainly good politics. But to many ecologists, economists and other experts on California wildfire risk, the vow to rebuild is part of a familiar California cycle as predictable as the Santa Anas: We keep putting homes in the path of the flames.

Tiptoeing Into the New World

February 2, 2025

  1. Weekly Commentary
  2. Local Environmental Meetings
  3. Environmental News Hereabouts

Weekly Commentary

Well, it’s done! The Orange One is now the Oval Orange One (Oh, Oh, Oh). Nothing to do about it. No more gnashing of teeth, pulling of hair. It’s here, it’s real, it’s … a done deal.

Yes, the fascist totalitarian oligarchy has arrived, full bore (pun intended), all stops out, full steam ahead. What little there was left of democracy in January is now a fading memory.

What to do, what to do?

I have some suggestions:

  1. Resist much, obey little.
  2. Build and support local democracy hereabouts.
    • Form neighborhood and regional assemblies to discuss neighborhood problems and solutions
    • Bring your problems and solutions to local elected officials. Remind them of their responsibilities and campaign promises.
    • Volunteer for local county and city commissions, committees and advisory bodies
  3. Support local charities. Give till it hurts
  4. Support local organic, regenerative agriculture
    • Buy food from farmers markets and/or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
  5. Practice Boregionalism and Living in Place
    • Know your watershed, where your water comes from
    • Know where your sewage goes
    • Know where your garbage goes
    • Know the local wildlife and plants
    • Know where the sun and the moon rise and fall, and how that changes through the season
    • Manage windows and curtains for maximum solar gain and insulation.
    • Grow food, even if it’s in a pot on the balcony
    • Collect rain and fog water for the plants in your vegetable garden
    • Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.
    • Take a walk through the neighborhoods. Talk to your neighbors. Enjoy their yards and gardens, make new friends.
    • Pay attention to the trees, wildlife and weather. This is Home.
  6. Practice safe social media
    • Don’t believe anything you hear and only half what you see.
    • Don’t trust without verification anything you read, see or hear on the internet. Artificial Intelligence(sic) can produce any text, image, video or audio desired by those who may not have your best interest at heart.
    • Remember social media is manipulated to control information and public opinion.
  7. Organize locally, face to face
    • Zoom and chats are convenient, but they are not the human contact needed to organize against cultural control. Meet locally in safe, public spaces and assume that you are being watched and monitored at all times. This is not paranoia, it’s prudence.

The national government is not your friend, protector or provider. Local government may or may not be able to support and defend you in times of great need. It’s up to you to take care of yourself, your loved ones, your neighbors and your friends. It’s up to you to protect the natural world in which you live from destruction by the embedded industrial, capitalist economic system that dominates life in Our Fair County, and which is gradually, inexorably crippling the local ecosystem on which we and all life depends.

As we tiptoe tentatively into this brave new world, remember that we live in the natural world, we are responsible for the health and integrity of the natural world and we have a moral obligation to protect and defend the natural world, our true home.

No AI was used in researching or writing this article.

Local Environmental Meetings

The County Water Advisory Commission will meet Wednesday, February 5 at 4:00 pm in a hybrid meeting at the Santa Cruz County Government Building, 701 Ocean Street, Third Floor Training Room, in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • G.1. PFAS treatment project at Buena Vista Migrant Center Presentation by Nathan Salazar on the project plan and public meeting held for the Buena Vista Migrant Center well, which has elevated PFAS.

The SC City Water Commission will meet Monday, February 3 at 7:00 pm at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

  • 5. Clarification of Proposed Council Forest Management Policies for Water Department Watershed Lands – That the Water Commission support staff’s recommendation to the City Council to approve the modification of Council Policy 11.3 to include specific old growth tree characteristics, but not including ecologic community-based characteristics.

The SC City Zoning Administrator will meet Wednesday, February 5 at 10:00 am at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

Public Hearings

  • 2. 110 Hiawatha Avenue – Coastal Permit to recognize the emergency permit issued to remove one black Acacia Heritage-sized tree with a codominant trunk (1 24 inch and 1 26 inch diameter trunk) within the R-L/CZ-O/SP-O (Multiple Residence – Low-Density/Coastal Zone Overlay/Shoreline Protection Overlay) zone district.

The SC City Planning Commission will meet Thursday, February 6 at 7:00 pm at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

Public Hearings

  • 4. 313 Swift Street – Planned Development Permit, Coastal Permit, Design Permit, and Heritage Tree Removal Permit to allow a new, four-story, approximately 120,604 square-foot multifamily educator workforce housing project encompassing approximately 100 residential units, approximately 119 parking spaces, new landscaping, and associated site modifications, including the removal of six(6) Heritage trees, on a site located in the P-F/CZ-O (Public Facilities/Coastal Zone Overlay) zone district.

The County Regional Transportation Commission will meet Thursday, February 6 at 9:00 ma in a hybrid meeting at Watsonville City Council Chambers, Fourth Floor 275 Main Street in Watsonville. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • 27. Final Climate Adaptation Vulnerability Assessment and Priorities Report (CAVA) Report – This Climate Adaptation Vulnerability Assessment (CAVA) was developed for the County of Santa Cruz-maintained road network, Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line (SCBRL) railroad, as well as bridges, culverts, and other transportation assets owned by the County of Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), referred to generally for this CAVA report as “transportation assets” or “assets”. The CAVA assesses how climate change-intensified natural hazards and natural disasters are projected to affect the transportation system and includes overall risk-based priority rankings on an asset-specific basis.

The Monterey Bay Air Resources District Advisory Committee will meet Thursday, February 6 at 1:30 pm in a hybrid meeting at 24580 Silver Cloud Court in Monterey. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation.

Environmental News Hereabouts

What are the benefits of urban trees in cities?

Urban trees are good for people and wildlife. They keep us healthy and make us happy.

Coastal Watershed Council Finds Romance in Our River

The Coastal Watershed Council wants you to fall in love. Since 1995, this nonprofit group has sought to ignite Santa Cruzans with a passion for the San Lorenzo River and the desire to explore, enhance and protect this waterway that flows through the heart of the city.

UCSC researchers dive into new conservation approach to protect and expand remaining kelp forests

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz are trying to save what was left behind in a new study that helps expand and protect surviving kelp forests by selectively removing sea urchins.

  1. Weekly Commentary
  2. Local Environmental Meetings
  3. Environmental News Hereabouts

Bioregional Governance

  1. Commentary
  2. Resources
  3. Local Environmental Meetings
  4. Environmental News Hereabouts

Commentary

Any system of government of and for the human residents of a bioregional community should reflect the natural organization of the greater bioregion. Centralized authoritarian rule is antithetical to natural bioregions. Centralization, hierarchy and autocracy are not found in the natural world, nor in historical non-state human social systems.

Our current system of county government consists of a Board of Supervisors with elected “representatives” of five supervisorial districts distinguished largely on bioregional characteristics. Supervisors respond to public concerns and problems and act on matters presented to them by paid county staff.

I put quotes around “representatives,” because it stretches credulity that one person can adequately represent the interests, needs and desires of thousands of residents of their supervisorial district. While there are 38 Commissions, Committees and Advisory Bodies in the county government system intended to advise the Board of Supervisors on their particular areas of interest, they are rarely effective in communicating the concerns and problems of the general public to the central decision making body. Most commissions are advisory only, and many are dominated by the interests of county departments and staff.

Evolving a system of decentralized bioregional governance out of a centralized authoritarian government is a significant shift that requires thoughtful planning and committed community engagement. Here are some steps to consider for this transformation:

Start by educating the community about the benefits of decentralized governance, and the problems and limitations of centralized authority. Organize discussions, and informational sessions to raise awareness and gather support.

Encourage the formation of neighborhood assemblies where residents can come together to discuss issues, make decisions, and take action on local matters. These assemblies should be inclusive and representative of self-identified local communities. Once neighborhood assemblies are established, work to create federated district assemblies, based on the existing five county supervisorial districts, that would connect the neighborhood assemblies to the Board of Supervisors. This would involve regular meetings, shared resources, and collaborative decision-making on bioregionally defined issues.

Participation in a federated assembly system would encourage public participation in local government, ensuring accountability to their communities. Participatory decision-making processes would allow all members of the assemblies to have a voice. This could include consensus-building techniques, voting, or other democratic methods. Training and resources would be provided to help effective representation of the interests of their neighborhoods. Facilitated discussions among the neighborhood assemblies would help to create a shared vision for the bioregion. This vision would reflect the values and priorities of the broader community.

Effective communication between neighborhood assemblies, the federated bioregional assembly and the central assembly (Board of Supervisors) would help ensure that information flows freely and that all voices are heard. This would encourage a culture of active participation and civic engagement within the community, help sustain the momentum of the transition and ensure that governance remains responsive to the needs of residents.

Any approach to bioregional governance would have to identify legal or institutional barriers to decentralization and work to address them with bioregional alternatives. This may involve advocating for policy changes or creating new legal frameworks that support local governance.

Transitioning to a decentralized, bioregional government would be a complex process requiring patience, collaboration, and commitment from the public, and acceptance by the existing centralized government. Focusing on community engagement and empowerment would create a more democratic and responsive governance system reflective of overall bioregional organization.

Resources

  • Home! A Bioregional Reader, Ed. Van Andrus, Christopher Plant, Judith Plant and Eleanor Wright, New Society Publishers, Santa Cruz, California, 1990
  • Reinhabiting a Separate Country, Ed. Peter Berg, Planet Drum Foundation, San Francisco, California, 1978
  • Progress As If Survival Mattered, Ed. Hugh Nash, Friends of the Earth, San Francisco, 1977
  • A Bioregional Reader – Cascadia Department of Bioregion
  • Bioregional Democracy

Local Environmental Meetings

The County Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday, January 28 at 9:00 am in a hybrid meeting at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, Room 525, County Governmental Center, 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • 10. Consider implementation update report for the Santa Cruz County Safe Drinking Water, Clean Beaches, Wildfire Risk Reduction and Wildlife Protection Act, and take related actions (Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience)
  • 41. Accept and file report on 2024 wildfire resilience activities funded by 22 CAL FIRE Wildfire County Coordinator-Northern Grant Program (Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience)

The County Commission on the Environment will meet Wednesday, January 29 at 5:00 pm in a hybrid meeting at the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 701 Ocean Street, 5th Floor in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • Presentation from Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience

The SC City Council will meet Tuesday, January 28 at 12:00 pm in a hybrid meeting at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • 6. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Resilience Regional Challenge Grant: Approval to Execute Subaward of Grant Funds to Develop a Final Design and Implementation of Living Shoreline in Main Beach, and Flood Mitigation, Habitat Enhancement and Restoration in Jessie Street Marsh and San Lorenzo Park (CM)

Environmental News Hereabouts

Pivoting to a Strategy based in Climate Adaptation

“Just Bring It” campaign starts in Santa Cruz county. 

Why California keeps building homes where wildfires burn

  1. Commentary
  2. Resources
  3. Local Environmental Meetings
  4. Environmental News Hereabouts

Bioregional Organic Agriculture

Local farmers grow an enormous amount of food in our bioregion but most of it is exported nationally and internationally, mostly grown in monocrop factory farms using pesticides and inorganic fertilizer. Not only is food exported out of our bioregion, more importantly, precious water is exported as well. Inorganic, monocrop agriculture uses enormous amounts of water that comes from aquifers underlying coastal agricultural fields. This depletes the aquifers, causing subsidence and salt water intrusion, both of which permanently reduce available crop lands.

As if that were not bad enough, use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides destroys the living soil and all of its interconnected lives and processes, requiring more and more fertilizer and pesticides to maintain production. Monocropping requires that competing vegetation, called weeds, must be eliminated and all unwanted animal consumers must be fenced out or killed, destroying biodiversity.

A critical part of living bioregionally is organic agriculture emphasizing cultivation of food and other agricultural products appropriate to our bioregion, taking into account its environmental, cultural, and economic characteristics. Selecting appropriate crops and farming practices requires different ways of thinking about how we produce, distribute and consume our food and products.

A shift from inorganic, monocrop agriculture for export requires a deep understanding of local ecosystems, including soil types, our Mediterranean climate with winter rains and summer drought, limited water resources, and the native plants and animals that share their homes with us. Instead, we can focus on agricultural practices that maintain soil health, conserve water, promote biodiversity and avoid synthetic chemicals and fertilizers.

We can use local resources and inputs, such as compost, organic fertilizers, and native seeds, to reduce reliance on external inputs and support the local economy. We can promote crop and livestock diversity to enhance resilience against pests, diseases, and weather variability. Diverse systems provide greater resistance to unwanted insects and provide a wider range of nutrients and flavors.

We can promote this shift to bioregional organic agriculture by involving local communities in decision-making processes and encouraging wider public participation in agricultural activities, such as farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, and locally owned grocery stores where bioregional organic products can be sold. This fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility for local food systems.

To enhance public acceptance and support of bioregional organic agriculture we must recognize and incorporate local cultural practices, traditions, and knowledge into agricultural practices, enhancing community ties and promoting the use of traditional crops appropriate to our bioregion.

Fortunately, in Our Fair County, we’re off to good start! Just over 30% of all Santa Cruz County farms are certified organic, the highest percentage of certified organic farmland in the state. Building stronger relationships among local organic growers and consumers (all of us) can foster environmental awareness, bioregional governance and social systems that will benefit all residents, human and non-human, in the Santa Cruz Bioregion.

Resources

Local Environmental Meetings

The Capitola Planning Commission will meet Wednesday, January 22 at 6:00 pm at Capitola City Council Chambers, 420 Capitola Avenue in Capitola. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

  • 7.A. 1550 45th Avenue – Design Permit for first- and second-story additions and attached accessory dwelling unit to an existing single-family residence and a Variance request for the minimum required setback for an attached garage. The project is located within the R-1 (Single-Family Residential) zoning district. The project is in the Coastal Zone but does not require a Coastal Development Permit. Environmental Determination: Categorical Exemption

The Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors will meet Tuesday, January 21 at 6:00 pm at Capitola City Council Chambers, 420 Capitola Avenue in Capitola. Click HERE for the agenda.

The Scotts Valley Water District Executive and Public Affairs Committee will meet Wednesday, January 22 at 12:00 pm at the Santa Margarita Community Room, 2 Civic Center Drive, Scotts Valley. Click HERE for the agenda.

The Scotts Valley Water District Finance and Personnel Committee will meet Wednesday, January 22 at 4:00 pm at the Santa Margarita Community Room, 2 Civic Center Drive, Scotts Valley. Click HERE for the agenda.

The Aromas Tri-County Fire Protection District Board of Directors will meet Tuesday, January 21 at 6:30 pm at the Aromas Tri-County Fire Station, 492 Carpenteria Road in Aromas. Click HERE for the agenda.

Environmental News Hereabouts

Bioregionalism and “Natural” Disasters

The fires in Los Angeles bring climate to focus as popular press and aspiring politicians automatically lay blame for the devastation on climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. This tendency to evoke climate change as the cause of natural disasters ignores climate science and the historic record of natural climate variability.

The cause(s) of the LA fires is/are not known at this time, but the conditions that contributed to the rapid spread and extent of the devastation are readily apparent. Strong Santa Ana winds blow sparks and embers from the original fires into closely packed, fire prone houses and outbuildings, that developers constructed over the years, ignoring local conditions.

The coast of Central to Southern California enjoys a Mediterranean climate, summer drought and winter rains. In Southern California, most of which is classified as desert, winter rains are often slight and unreliable. Such was the case this year, resulting in dry conditions and unusually strong warm winds from eastern deserts west to the ocean.

As a result, thousands of LA residents lost their homes and most if not all of their treasured belongings, creating an economic impact that will remain until the flood of recovery and rebuilding commences. In a capitalist economy, natural disasters are gold mines for developers.

The history of fires in the hills and canyons of Southern California is well documented. It’s no secret that fire regularly consumes chaparral ecosystems. In fact, chaparral has evolved with fire, as has the entire ecosystem. Fire is a natural feature of this bioregion.

In a society based on bioregional organization, this natural relationship would be recognized and taken into account when planning housing and living arrangements for its residents. Housing development on hills and in the canyons would be restricted, and all buildings would be constructed of fire-resistant materials and design. Fire fighting equipment and materials, including adequate water supply, would be pre-placed in areas where construction in fire prone areas is considered necessary. Community planning would emphasis adequate and multiple evacuation routes. More importantly the public would be aware of risks and consequence of fires in these areas, and incentives would be in place to encourage housing to be built and purchased elsewhere.

Bioregionalism is living in place, recognizing and abiding by natural conditions and processes that affect all living things, including humans. When we humans ignore these natural constraints, we place ourselves at risk to the conditions to which all other life has evolved. Bioregionalism, on the other paw, organizes in harmony with conditions and processes that may, or may not, otherwise result in human disasters.

Local Environmental Meetings

The County Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday, January 14 at 9:00 am in a hybrid meeting at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, Room 525, County Governmental Center, 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation.

  • 14. Direct the Community Development and Infrastructure Department to prepare a feasibility study for a controlled parking area on Highway 1 adjacent to Shark Fin Cove Beach
  • 11. Presentation of the 2024-25 Santa Cruz County Green Business Certification and Re-Certification Awards

The SC City Council will meet Tuesday, January 14 at 12:00 pm in a hybrid meeting at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation.

  • 19. Felton Diversion Pipeline Emergency Repair Project – Master Service Agreement Zayante Creek Bank Stabilization-Third Amendment with Ecological Concerns Incorporated for Restoration and Revegetation Services
  • 26. Community wide Climate Action Plan 2030 – Year 2 Progress Report Update

The SC City Zoning Administrator will meet Wednesday, January 15 at 10:00 am at City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street in Santa Cruz. Click HERE for the agenda.

  • 209 Golf Club Drive – Design Permit to recognize a garage, a storage building, and an addition to a pole barn, resulting in a single family home greater than 3,500 square feet, and a Watercourse Development Permit to demolish an unpermitted diversion.

The Capitola Commission on the Environment is scheduled to meet Wednesday, January 15 at 6:00 pm at Capitola City Hall, 420 Capitola Avenue in Capitola. The agenda will be available HERE 72 hours before the meeting. NOTE: Recent Commission on the Environment meetings have been cancelled due to a lack of a quorum. Verify the meeting date and time in advance.

The Watsonville City Council will meet Tuesday, January 14 at 4:30 pm at City Council Chambers, 4th Floor, 275 Main Street in Watsonville. Click HERE for the agenda.

  • 9.I Accept $250,000 NOAA Grant Sub-Aw for Climate Resilience fo Monterey Bay Coastal Communities

The California Fish and Game Commission Wildlife Resources Committee will meet Wednesday, January 15 at 9:00 am in a hybrid meeting at the Natural Resources Headquarters Building, Second Floor, 715 P Street in Sacramento. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation.

  • 5. Take of nongame mammals – Discussion and potential recommendations for change to the take of nongame mammals regulations.

Save Our Shores Beach Cleanup @ Capitola Beach will take place Saturday, January 18 at 9:00 am at Capitola Beach, 120 Monterey Avenue, Capitola. Meet at Esplanade Park at 120 Monterey Avenue. Click HERE for information.

Environmental News Hereabouts

Local Politics and the Natural World

As we’ve seen in the recent presidential election, today’s national politics is dominated by the struggle between fascist dictatorship and reformist support for economic growth and imperialist international domination.

Here in Our Fair County, voters have other priorities to consider, chief among which, for me, is the destruction of the natural world through economic and population growth, resulting in immediate mechanical destruction of natural habitats and wildlife that depend on them, including humans, wild or tame.

The outcome of local politics often poorly serves the human residents of Santa Cruz County, but it is far worse for the other than human residents who share their home with us. Our system of government does not recognize the living natural world as co-occupants of the county and therefore is unwilling or incapable of protecting it from human growth and development.

Human politics, technology and culture fly in the face of basic interrelationships that have governed the natural world for billions of years, long before ancient proto-humans decided it was a good idea to abandon the natural world, climb down out of the trees and make their way in the world on two legs, holding their heads and brains on high.

It’s long past time to start thinking about how we can restructure ourselves and our human world back to a closer cooperative relationship with the non-human world, instead of destroying it. For example:

Bioregionalism – Human political, cultural, and economic systems organized around naturally defined areas have existed for hundreds to thousands of years without causing destructive environmental impacts. Bioregions are defined through physical and environmental features, including watershed boundaries and soil and terrain characteristics. Bioregionalism is a cultural system, emphasizing local populations, local knowledge, and local solutions to local problems, based on thorough knowledge of local conditions.

Decentralization – Planning and decision-making activities are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative groups and derived from smaller community groups, based on community organization and interests. Local assemblies are an integral part of bioregional decision making.

Degrowth – Degrowth rejects the use of growth in gross domestic product as a measure of human and economic development. Degrowth argues that the focus of modern capitalism on growth causes widespread environmental damage and is not necessary for the maintenance of adequate and sufficient human living standards.

A modern bioregional society would be governed by grass roots neighborhood assemblies, whose delegates form bioregional assemblies (similar to present supervisorial districts), whose delegates would make up the federated bioregional assembly (similar to the current Board of Supervisors). Decision making would flow upward from the neighborhood assemblies to the central assembly. Rather than politicians and county staff initiating projects, citizens would determine projects appropriate for their own neighborhood or region, and direct them to the Central Assembly.

In bioregional organization, the present economy based on consumerism and growth would devolve to a steady state economy based on local production for local consumption, as much as possible, to satisfy the needs of local consumers, not for export.

Bioregionalism cannot be imposed from the top down, it must grow from the grassroots, living soils and all its inhabitants. This revolution can’t happen overnight, but it will naturally evolve over time as the present economy, government and social organization becomes less and less able to respond to unsustainable demands of a growing population and economy for increasingly scarce resources.

As the centralized federal and state governments becomes less and less able to respond to diverse needs at the local level, we will turn inward and become more self-sufficient in providing for local needs while preserving and restoring local ecosystems that support us.

Bioregionalism is the only form of social organization that can respond to the diverse needs of local human populations, while preserving the ecosystems, habitats and resources required for the non-human residents to live and thrive here with us.

Local Environmental Meetings

The Capitola City Council will meet Thursday, January 9 at 5:30 pm in a hybrid meeting at Capitola City Council Chambers, 420 Capitola Ave, in Capitola. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • 8.A The Monte Foundation Fireworks 2025 – That the City Council
    • 1) consider whether to support the continuation of the Monte Foundation Fireworks Show tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 12, 2025; and
    • 2) if the Council supports continuation, direct staff to coordinate with the Monte Foundation to obtain the required Coastal Development Permit for the event.

The Scotts Valley Water District Board of Directors will meet Thursday, January 9 at 6:00 pm in a hybrid meeting at the Santa Margarita Community Room, 2 Civic Center Drive in Scotts Valley. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation.

The Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors is scheduled to meet Tuesday, January 7 at 6:00 pm at Capitola City Council Chambers, 420 Capitola Avenue in Capitola. The agenda will be available HERE 72 hours before the meeting.

The Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County Board of Directors will meet Wednesday, January 8 at 6:30 pm in a hybrid meeting at the District Office, 820 Bay Avenue, Suite 136 in Capitola. Click HERE for the agenda and instructions for public participation. Agenda items include:

  • 7.2. Review and consider approval of Resolution 2025-01 to enter into agreement with the State Coastal Conservancy, enter into subaward agreements under this grant agreement and designate a representative to negotiate and sign the agreement, and any amendments thereto, for the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program Phase 7.
  • 7.3. Review and consider approval of Staff Recommendation Memo to enter into contract with Jodi McGraw Consulting for the Henry Cowel Redwoods State Park Sandhills Management Plan and General Conservation Plan per 1080.6.1.2 of the Procurement Policy.

Environmental News Hereabouts